The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-11-22
THE COWBOYS VOCABULARY.
some OF the Queer Words and Phrases
Used In the West-spauish Used Elk
tensively.

tensiveiy.
The "Bucolic Dialect of the Plains"
Is made the subject of a paper by Louis
Swinburne in the October number Of
Scribner's. Passing over the first page
Of his paper. which very Interestingly
traces the origin OF the place names in
the vicinity Of the Rockies, We come.
says The Philadelphia Record, to the
class of words that have sprung up
among oattle-owners and cowboys to
designate the various acts and general
conduct OF their occupation, which the
writer asserts have never been cata-
logued. The terms 'rounding-up" and
branding are too we'll known to be
dealt upon. "Bucker." meaning re-
factory animal, Is also In ordinary use
in the east being generally applied to
refractory politicians. The cook on a
ranch Is called ''rustler." and the
term is also applied to any uncommon
ly active man, and Its sense has been
still further amplified SO that it may
mean thief pilgrim" and GENDER
foot, originally applied to newly i'm
ported cattle. but now 1t means all new
corners whether two or four legged.
ITO 60 over the range" was also once
limited to cattle, but now men as well
as beasts that die "go over the range"
in COWBOY parlance. "Roped In" has
also come to be Of common use. Steers
are ''roped i'm for the purpose Of
branding; men are often ''roped In"
to their disadvantage. The epithet
thoroughbred" applied to a fine
woman Is very commonly used in the
west but the English also use the
word In the same sense.
The writer gives the following short
list OF ordinary cowboy words:
Brand. noun and verb; brand-book,
containing the recorded brands OF the
country; branding-chute. branding-iron
counter brand, v. and n. {: fying-brand;
lazy-brand; brand-bunch, small herd of
cattle; bunch-grass; crease, v. NJ; to
stun q horse or steer by blow in the |
neck in order to catch him; cut out, to
separate an animal from the herd; cut
ting-horse; crop. n. and v. an ear mark. |
or TO make a mark by cutting the ear;
dowlap. a cut In the lower part of the |
neck; vent brand announcing sale;
single-bob. q slit ear dropping down.
Other marks signifying ownership are
over.bit over-hack, over-half-crop,
over-slope. swallow.fork, under-bit,
under-hack. etc. These are mostly
technical, but the common terms are
almost equally unfamiliar--such as
grade. adj and n, improved cattle;
grass-oattle. fed only on grass; hacka-
more. bride made of horse-hair; heel,
to lariat an animal by the hind leg; hon
don derivation unknown. though prob
ably from Spanish honda, the eye of
the needle). the slip-not of the lariat,
paunch, to shoot refractory steer
through the pauncb, producing tenn
porary quietude; slicker, a waterproof
coat; string. small collection of
horses or steers; string-beam. pair of
horses or mules in long succession; TAIL,
to hold steer down by the tail after
it is lassoed and heeled; trail. n. and ".
trail-cattle, trail cinch; wrangler, a
dog herder; wrangle footed, mixture
Of several gaits. The list is by no
means complete, but II comprises the
most common vernacular terms in use.
The class OF words drawn from The
Spanish Is more numerous and more
interesting. Ranch. from rancho.
meaning mess, is commonly applied by
the herder to his companions; so is
"outtit;" vamos, to clear out; ranchero
Is the steward of the mess; vaquero is
the herder; companero. partner. and
compadre, friend. Tho adobe of
which the cowboys house is built is
known by its Spanish name alone. He
calls his stove an estufa; eats tortillas,
ia other words hoe-cake; wears
serape "a light striped wooden shawD
over his shoulders; calls his fields of
lucern fields of alfalfa. dried-up creek
an arravos, deep holes made by the
mountain flood barrancas, and water
canals FUSED for irrigation) acequras.
Any collection of trees. brambles or
bushes Is q chaparral. and table-land is
mesa "Balie," corrupted into
"bailee" among cowboys, is allied to
our ball; but II means also sheriff
(bailiff), which Is significant. The con-
nection between balls and bailiffs in
New Mexico is, unfortunately, more
intimate and frequent than would be
thought desirable In Boston and New
York. The true cowboy delights In
the lingering waltz which the senoritas
accord him. He will hop and roll
about until he has worn out his zapatos
Spanish shoes), and still he Is ready
to swear that his partner is his ojo, the
very eye Of his heart.